Nerdism at its best

August 29, 2017

Half-life

Half-Life turns nineteen this year. Half-life 2 turns thirteen. Yet, aged graphics aside, they are still one of the best games—or rather, one of the best experiences—the PC has to offer. The first Half-Life was influential not just because it played well, but because it immersed you into its world with great skill, gripping you with its atmosphere and actually putting you in the shoes of a (sort of) Average Joe, who’s unlucky enough to be at the wrong place at the wrong time. From his perspective, at least.

It was a game that let the environments and actions tell the story as much as some of the dialogue did. Not to mention the fact that the protagonist was silent so players could feel like they were the hero instead of playing a written character.

I say this not with nostalgia, or spurred on by a curmudgeonly knee-jerk against the smoky linearity of the modern military shooter (in truth, a dominant genre now only in the minds of those still affronted by its last-gen ubiquity). No. You see while Half-Life 2 undeniably laid the foundations for a staggering proportion of the then-future of game design – genre be damned – it is no mere historically lauded precursor. It’s no aged benefactor, thanked yearly at the annual commemoration ceremony before being shuffled off back to the care home. The fact is that Half-Life 2 still executes its concepts, conceits and mechanics more effectively, deftly, and powerfully than almost any of its imitators have in the 13 years since. That’s why it’s still the best, and that’s why I still play it.

There’s something obviously different about Half-Life 2 from the opening moments. There’s no expository cut scene. No lengthy ‘In a time of war…’ cinematic, detailing a bombastic tale of humanity’s fall in lurid detail. There’s just an unsettlingly alien normality. City 17’s railway station might be defaced by the brutal deco surrealism of Combine technology, but in every other sense it’s a familiar place. And for all of the escalating inter-dimensional fascism on show, its stranger elements are made all the more dangerously mundane by the populace’s broken-down acceptance of them. Eschewing dramatic ‘Bad men are bad’ set-pieces and other such blunt attempts to convey traumatic drama, it’s in the hushed whispers, the defeated grumbles of the everyday people around you, that the completeness of Half-Life 2’s darkness really speaks.

I very deliberately say “you” rather than “Gordon” there, because that’s the genius stroke that really amplifies City 17’s palpable realness. Unlike in most action games, you’re not playing the hero character. The hero character is playing you. His dearth of dialogue not a failing of narrative, but rather a deliberately hollowed conduit through which the player threads their own persona into Half-Life 2’s hostile world, Gordon is a container for the player’s experiences, reactions, and internalized responses.

It’s about more than letting the player fill in the gaps. Your story, your experience, filled with your details, your personality, your anecdotes, your victories. That’s why there are no cut scenes to show you the developers’ version of what’s going on. That’s why there’s no third-person Gordon model to remind you that he doesn’t look like you.

The FPS genre has been full of significant technological accomplishments, but these have come to be expected by each iteration of the game. Half-life was monumental in its story telling and first-person cinematography. Before Marc Laidlaw introduced us to Gordon Freeman, the genre remained mired in the same “no plot to get in the way of the story” that marked the genre since Wolfenstein 3D and Doom. Half-Life drew us in with characters that fascinated, leaving us begging for a sequel — not just for greater gameplay, but for a continuation of the story.

January 25, 2017

Moving a Steam game folder

Steam offers multiple library folders, and you can choose where you want to install games when you download them. And, thanks to a recent update, you can easily move a game after you’ve downloaded it without re-downloading the entire thing.

This process can save you from downloading tens or even hundreds of gigabytes of game data all over again, just because you got a new SSD and want to move a few games. It’s different from moving an entire Steam library folder, which moves every single game inside it—the following process will let you move only a few games rather than the whole library.

This process used to be much more complex, but a recent build made it much easier. Make sure your Steam is up to date in order for the below instructions to work—you can click Steam > Check for Updates to make sure. I used the build from Jan 18 2017 in this guide.

Step One: Make a Library Folder

First, you’ll need to make a Steam library folder on the second drive if you haven’t already done so. To do this in Steam, click Steam > Settings. Select the “Downloads” category and click the “Steam Library Folders” button.

Click “Add Library Folder”, select the drive you want to create the library folder on, and click “New Folder”. Give it whatever name you like, click “OK”, and then click “Select” to choose the folder you just created.

The folder you chose will appear in the Steam Library folders list. You can now close this window.

Step Two: Move the Games Files to the Second Library

To move an installed game once you’ve added a second library, right-click it in your Steam library and select “Properties”.

Click the “Local Files” tab and click the “Move Install Folder” button. Select the Steam library you want to move the game to and click the “Move Folder” button.

You’re done. Steam will move the game’s files to the other library location. To move other games, just repeat this process.

When installing a game in the future, Steam will ask which library you want to install it to, but you should be able to move your games at any time.

 

July 22, 2016

Modded Minecraft adventures – Resonant Rise 3 Tale #1

Minecraft tales
Modded minecraft adventures, So recently I started playing the Resonant rise 3 modpack again there was been a lot of changes well there was a group of NPCs close to where I staked as my home. these NPCs are from a mod called thaumcraft they are called Crimson Knights. They are jerks.
I was just minding my own business and they some how aggro’d to me I did fair very well. I have been spending a lot of time gathers resources to craft some higher tier ranged weapons such as a crossbow. Since the mod Tinker’s Construct has changed the way crossbows stats are based on the material you used you can no longer just craft one out of the material that provide the most damage. Well you can do that but you will have, even with the maxed out haste modifier added, a really long draw back which makes sense as its metal and an all metal crossbow would be really hard to draw back.
After a lot of trial and error I have a crossbow that will do 10 hearts of damage, more if I crit, with a 1 second drawback or reload, still not ideal but I have not maxed out the haste modifier on it to do so would mean that I would have to get a nether star from killing a wither and I am not ready for that.
after I armored up and grabbed my crossbow I went hunting. the problem is that the knights keep spawning so long as the cleric is channeling the obelisk and you can not get close enough with out pulling the knights. This is why I decided to use the crossbow use it to take out the cleric then equip my sword and go to town on the knights. Then I destroyed the obelisk as I did not want an Eldritch Guardian spawning. Below you will see I have decorated my house with my victory.
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My House Decorated with trophies from the Crimson Knights

June 28, 2016

Gaming

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What is a gamer? We rarely ask that question because we are usually certain what a gamer is. If you’re reading this, then chances are you see one in the mirror every morning. Being a gamer, however, is not the same thing anymore. When I say ‘what is a gamer?’ I mean ‘what is a person whose lifestyle involves, or is based around, playing video games?

I consider myself a gamer, and I have a friend who plays video games but he does not identify as a gamer. How we play games are entirely different. His gaming ‘methods’ are incoherent to say the least, and consisted of running around like a chicken without a head blasting zombies, the Ai survivors and pretty much anything without knowledge of what he was doing. We barely survived any round of any game we played. I’m not mad at him.

Casual gamers were essentially created as a result of games attempting to reach out to a wider audience. Games like Call of Duty and GTA, games with no inherent tie to fantasy or sci-fi, appealed to people who might enjoy games if they were less ‘nerdy’. While good games by most standards (in quality, this isn’t a morality topic), they essentially teared a hole in the boundary between gamers and the rest of society. People who never even played games before enjoyed a universe they could identify with, but one that didn’t have the same boundaries.

And since then that has been the focus of the gaming industry. It must be remembered that any video game business is still a business, with profit being the number one priority. Instead of cultivating the gamer lifestyle, companies tend to capitalize on it.

There would normally be a tenuous to kinship-like peace between these two groups who share a common hobby albeit for different reasons, but recent conditions in the gaming industry are creating a Cain and Abel esc effect.

First and foremost, there is a freezing tension between the two over the favoritism of the gaming industry. As previously mentioned, game developers are businesses with the intention of making money. Their focus is primarily that, which means they will make games that appeal to the majority, which at the time is casual gamers. With that respect there isn’t enough in terms of time and energy to go around, which means that if the gaming industry is appealing to the majority, they will make games geared for casual gamers first, and then regular gamers if there is any money left to use. Strategy games, survival horrors and certain rpgs play second fiddle to games such as multiplayer oriented shooters and rhythm games. You can imagine how unhappy a pc gamer who loves FPS games will be when FPS’ stop being made. It already starting to happen with the rise of third person shooters.

I was a bit annoyed that my friend enjoys gaming only as a novelty when I practically view it as an art-form, so I can only imagine how often strangers meet under similar circumstances and create tension.

In the end video games mean many different things to different people. They can be art, culture, hobby, time waster and even a drug, but when people view games in one light and not the others it creates problems with those who don’t share the same beliefs.

I will continue to play video games with my friend, because he is my friend. Nothing will ever change that. My belief is that there is more to being a gamer than just playing games. Being a gamer means having a passion for everything gaming. What does that make people who just play games?

If I had it my way I’d give them the word “gamer”. For the rest of us it’s just life.

May 5, 2016

Trip to the Core.

I have started my trip to the core a few days ago. Its gonna be a slow ride it seems as its been two days and I have not gotten to pick up where I left off cause now that the 2.1 beta is out I’m gonna have to try that out.

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This was the the only interesting system I had come across. it had one planet with some sizable rings.

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which had the icy moon I have been sitting on for a couple of days now.

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Check back often for more updates as I get back in to the saddle of playing Elite: Dangerous. However before I get back to my adventure I will be checking out the beta.

Until then CMDR Spoofshadow signing off…

April 15, 2016

Trading – The Basics

trade

Your first trade

You’ll be sitting in a space station. If you select “Starport Services” you’ll see the Commodities market pop up. Select that option and you’ll see a list of goods (or Commodities) for sale and purchase.

The price and availability of goods depends on various factors. Firstly, and most importantly, is the type of economy of the system – Industrial, Agricultural, High Tech, Refinery, etc.

Here’s a list of the various types of economic system and the goods that are in supply (being sold) or in demand (being bought) in those types of economy.

http://elite-dangerous.wikia.com/wiki/Goods

And here’s a more detailed list of each type of commodity available in the game.

http://elite-dangerous.wikia.com/wiki/Commodities

So, how do you make money? Simple! Buy low, sell high.

But what should you buy? and how do you know what’s low and what’s high? Well, that really depends on lots of factors (time of day, how many people are trading and more) but the simplest thing is to learn some of the basics.

Agricultural economies produce things like food and drink, so they tend to be in supply (and cheap to buy). They like to buy things that help them produce food (like crop harvesters or atmospheric processors) and things that keep their farmers happy (domestic appliances, consumer tech, clothes).

Go to an Industrial economy, and you’ll find them producing things like domestic appliances and consumer tech, and in need of things like food! So if you buy food in an Agricultural system, fly it to an Industrial system and sell it, you’ll make a profit! Even better, if you then buy some consumer goods or clothes and fly them back to the starting Agricultural system, you’ll make a profit on the return leg, and you’ve got yourself a trade route.

You may be thinking “that’s awesome, Einstein, thanks for the economic theory – now just tell me what to buy and where to take it”. Because the answer to that question is based on where you are, how much money you’ve got and how much cargo space you’ve got free, you’ll need to do a little bit of work yourself to figure out the best answer.

The easy way is to use one of the many tools to go look up the best answer. I have use eddb.io’s single route finder.

https://eddb.io/trade/single

using this resource allows you to input the buy from system, the sell to system, your cargo space, and available credits. this tool tracks prices in various stations and helps you to pick the best goods to buy and where to take them.

The first hour

You’ve made a few credits and you’re on a roll. If you repeat what you’ve just done a few times, you’ll have even more credits (probably a few thousand) and you’ll be getting the hang of navigating the commodities market, docking and jumping between systems. Don’t worry about getting rich until you’re comfortable with the basics. Repeat that run you just made five times and then take stock.

The simplest thing to do is to repeat this process until you are filling your hold with the most expensive goods at each station and you’ve still got money in the bank. You’ll probably have 25-30K at this point, and you’ll be buying consumer technology, tobacco, progenitor cells or superconductors at 4-7K per ton, with a profit of 1K per ton when you sell.

Working for the man

You’ve got the basics down and a small pile of credits – wouldn’t it be awesome if you could break the monotony and pull in 20K profit once in a while? Well, you can! every time you dock at a station, even before you sell your goods, take a quick look on the bulletin board. If you’re lucky, you’ll see someone who wants what you’re carrying and is willing to pay a premium for it.

This is probably the fastest way to get big chunks of starting cash, so don’t forget to check every time you dock.

Once you maximise your profit potential, you’ve got a few options. The first is probably to look for a more lucrative trade route – if you’re not making 3K+ a run (round trip) then you should look to find a better pair of stations to trade between.

You should also factor in how efficient the run is – hyperspace jumps take time. Supercruise and docking take even more time. You should be able to find a route that takes less than 15 minutes round trip for a single jump and once you’re practiced at navigating and flying, you can probably get a two or three jump route round trip in under 15 minutes and a single jump trip round trip in 10 minutes. Time taken is time wasted, so be mindful and practice docking fast (hopefully without blowing up!) and navigating the commodities pages

March 7, 2016

Exploring the Galaxy Day 3 and 4, then Back Home

complete

I am not going to post all my Screen shots in this post. You can visit the complete imgur album Instead. I will however touch on some shots I thought were pretty awesome. I started my trip in Eravate my home system. I made my way to the witch head nebula and then from there I went to the running man nebula and then onto Barnard’s Loop and through it.

I discovered quite a few new objects.

first-to-discover

There were several Binary star systems that I visited the one pictured below what not a bad one about 100 ly later I jumped into one that put me between the two stars that were a lot closer than you seen in this one and it fried my ship a bit thankfully I came prepared with heat-sinks and was able to escape with minimal damage that was repaired by my AFMU.

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On my way to the witch head nebula I found my first water world. I had hoped it was an earth like but alas it was not. Pictured is a terrestrial water world with an active water-based chemistry and carbon-water-based life.

Horsehead Dark Region MR-W c1-5 (20160306-105620)

once passed Witch head and into the orion nebula and running man on through Barnard’s Loop I stumbled upon some neat gas giants.

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Trapezium Sector VY-A c4 (20160305-172641)

2MASS J05363993-0521231 (20160305-164354)

V1746 Orionis (20160305-161413)

Col 70 Sector OH-V d2-1 (20160306-111548)

On may way out of Barnard’s Loop I decided to visit a know location of a black hole and this was the major reason I had to end my trip so short it had a planet orbiting it and apparently that means the planet is going to be a very high gravity planet and I belly flopped my ship.

Mintaka (20160306-160324)

Mintaka (20160306-160336)

At this point I was 900 ly from my home system. That is 30 jumps with my ship. so with 3 heat-sinks left and 40% hull left and about 1/4 or my repairs left in my AFMU I plotted course to head home. I think my next trip will be to Sagittarius A* I believe but is going to take some time planning and preparing myself for the trip out there. as it will probably take me longer than just 4-5 days.

March 4, 2016

Exploring the Galaxy Day 2

day2

I am at about 1100 light-years out now. I made it to the Witch head nebula. It was Fun watching as I got closer and closer to the nebula. It started out as a small dot in the distance and grew as I got closer.  This is as close as I will ever get to exploring the universe in my life time so I am going to explore it for as long as I can.

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Also started my way towards Orion’s Nebula. Then on to Barnard’s Loop

getting-closer

I found some binary planets. just rocky and high metal content nothing real special but they had a neat orbit path.

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I also came across a gas giant with some pretty impressive rings.

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massiverings

That was about the highlight of my trip yesterday. For the next few days I am going to explore the area I am in so look for more screenshots to come. until then I will be basking in a blue-white star with this little guy all by ourselves. Fly Dangerous CMDRs o7…

done-for-the-night

 

March 3, 2016

Welcome to Elite CMDR!

welcome

Elite: Dangerous can be very Daunting when you are a new player and you have not idea where to go or what to do well I’m gonna help you out with this short and sweet beginner guide.

If you have horizons and choose surface start (horizons sidewinder), you will start at Asellus Primus This is a good starting system.

If you chose New Commander you will start at LHS 3447.

First thing you want to do is get out of (LHS 3447) and never look back.

Eravate system right next door has stations under 200ls away from its star – Cleve Hub, It currently also one of the busiest areas of space. Eravate is also controlled and protected by the Player group Adle’s Armada.

Kremainn system has ringed planets with RES(resource extraction sites) for combat bounty hunting, It also has stations close to its home star. Kremainn is now a player controlled anarchy system

LTT 18486 and LTT 3572 systems are close by and has RES(resource extraction sites) for bounty hunting.

Starting out can be hard, Space is big and there is a lot to explore, trade, mine and kill. Elite has a very steep learning curve and there is quite a few guides online to show you the ropes, grab some coffee and have a watch of a few of these while you are playing through the tutorials of the game 🙂

Pilot Training

PowerPlay

Youtubers

Obsidian Ant is a good youtube channel for anything elite related.

Frontier Developments to catch up on current updates and Educating ED is a good series.

Scott Manley An Astronomer, he doesn’t play elite exclusively but he brings a great scientific perspective to the table.

Troa Barton does good walk-though instructions for the game.

Kornelius Briedis – from Latvia

SquidofLove, Commander ChaosWulff and Ctopare also frequent uploaders

There are many others

Links

Here are some useful links for trading/exploration/bounty hunting/mining/ship information/galactic news so on

Tune into to Radio Sidewinder or or LaveRadio for great music and Galnet updates

Also if you run out of fuel. Call the Fuel Rats

March 3, 2016

Day 1 – Exploration – Elite: Dangerous

I have headed out to start exploring the galaxy. On this day i have made it nearly 510 light-years out from my home system of Eravate. I want to make my way out to Barnard’s Loop which is like 1700 light-years out from where I started.

So i fitted up an Asp Explorer and set out on my journey.

goldasp

My load-out allows for me to jump nearly 30 light-years in a single jump makes for getting where I want to go fast. so it only took me 19 jumps to get 510 ly out. and here I am basking in that star.

Wregoe UX-X b28-2 (20160302-230952)

and here is my current star map its hard to tell but the red is where I normally stay. The white is discovered systems. My trip will be the green dots you can barely see them at this time. The yellow dot is my home system and the purple dot is Sol. stay tuned for more updates.

starmap